Diane Duane Stealing the Elf Kings Roses

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

did not re-flect well on the bearer. "Shh!"
"—obvious implications of the Five-Interpol report for the Ellay Alfen community. We take attacks on
this commu-nity very seriously, as is demonstrated by our present inves-tigation of the murder of Omren
dil'Sorden, a heinous crime that I am pleased to announce will be going to court within the next two
weeks—"
"My God, he read the casework that fast??"
"Ssh!"
"—one of our star prosecution teams, Liayna Enfield and Gelert reh'Mechren. However, the present
situation sug-gests that their tremendous talents can be better used in an even wider investigative role than
in the present investiga-tion..."
"What the hell is he talking about?!" Lee whispered.
"—in light of the Federal Prosecutor's request this morn-ing to the UN&ME to immediately organize an
inves-tigative panel, I am seconding Enfield and reh'Mechren to the FP's Office with a request that they
be part of any panel. We are glad to lend the best and most expert aid we have to this wider investigation
into the unacceptable face of intraspecies relations—"
"No," Lee murmured. "Oh, no."
"See that now, Lee," Gelert said. "How does it feel to be the biggest steppingstone in the DA's mayoral
campaign? Don't hide your feelings, now. Aren't you proud and yet also humbled?"
"He's fired us!"
"Not fired. 'Seconded.' Such a nice word. So rounded."
"The sonofabitch has thrown us right into the middle of it!" Lee said, lost between horror for herself and
Gelert, and fury, well mixed with astonishment, at Big Jim. "Hasn't he thought of conflict of interest?
Hasn't he thought of what happens when we go to trial?" "No," Gelert said. "And I don't think he cares. It
doesn't matter now if the dil'Sorden case never goes to trial. He's al-ready being seen to do his part in
the crusade against vio-lence against other species, especially Elves. He's dumped us on the UN's
doorstep, to his campaign's everlasting en-hancement. Because how many of his electorate—how many
of them who can count, anyway—are going to re-member our names, or care about them, when Big
Jim's mayoral campaign begins to roll?"
"Or where we've been buried," Lee said softly. "He's thrown us right in the laps of the other Elves, Gel.
The Elves who don't want us to know why they're killing their own people. Who bought him? Who told
him where to throw us?"
"Got a call in to Hagen, Lee?" Gelert said softly. "Some-how I think he may be a while getting back to
us."
She looked at him in silence and could think of not a word to say.
*6*
It took the better part of two weeks for the noise to reach enough of a crescendo for the Alfen to
respond: and the noise that started them out of cover, finally, was the UN&ME's Secretary General
standing up in a Security Council meeting to "guillotine" debate and call the vote on the empanelment of
the Special Investigative Committee. The vote came down 10-6 in favor, Alfheim abstaining. The
Assembly then adopted a resolution requiring the Alfen au-thorities (specifically naming the Laurin) to
allow more transparency into Alfheim's relationships with other worlds, and to immediately agree to a
more detailed investigation. To the applause of the delegates, at the end of the session the Alfen
ambassador walked out of the Assembly with her lovely face looking unusually grim.
Lee watched all this happening with some concern, when she had time to think about it. Mostly she was
an-noyed that nothing was happening, and apparently nothing was going to happen, with the dil'Sorden
case. Though a trial date had been set, no magistrate had yet been assigned: the reason Lee kept hearing
from Matt's office was "man-power shortages" caused by too many magistrates taking their holidays at
the same time. But she thought she knew better. Word was quietly about in the DA's Office: stall. And
there were no more commcalls from Hagen.
"But it's hardly a surprise, Lee," Gelert said to her one afternoon in the office. "This is going to be the best
way to make our discoveries go quietly away. The case itself won't be postponed ... but its scheduling
will, again and again. You know how the game goes; we've both seen it before. Meanwhile we'll have
been packed off to Alfheim for Her-self only knows how long, surrounded by lots of lovely
bu-reaucracy, with our own communications curtailed, and almost certainly thoroughly snooped. We
won't be able to do anything concrete about the dil'Sorden case while we're stuck there. And anything
we do discover, we're going to have a hard time communicating privately."
"Assuming we actually ever go," Lee said. "There's been nothing from the FP's Office, or the UN, for ten
days now."
"Oh, we'll be going, all right," Gelert said. He stretched, rolled over on his back. "It's just taking a while [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Archiwum